Checking-in with the Mekong

I snapped this one a few weeks back in Chiang Mai, where there was a lot of solidarity for Wuhan at the peak of the crisis in China.

Hello friends,

Today I’ve stopped to check in on our Mekong states who I feel I have neglected somewhat recently. But with some major developments and some things to watch for in the coming days, it’s about time. 

Also! I keep forgetting to say this, but I’ve started a Twitter account for this project. Follow @dmkmtoday here for daily links and developments.

And as usual, all coronavirus-related content will remain free but if you’d like to continue supporting me and this project by becoming a member you can for $6 a month or $60 for the whole year:

Thanks!Erin Cook

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Mike Tatarski’s Vietnam Weekly yesterday combs through the official 117 cases. Some of the recently identified cases are cause for alarm, coming from particularly busy events and areas. The country hasn’t been spared from the Sri Petaling cluster, with at least one known case and tracking efforts underway for other attendees. Foreigners have been banned from entering the country and it’s near-inevitable international flights will be shortly shut down.

I’ve spruiked the newsletter a bunch of times, but please consider supporting the Vietnam Weekly Patreon if you can. While the newsletter is free for all readers, a lot of work goes into it and fills a huge gap in the world’s Southeast Asia coverage. 

Under this extraordinarily naff headline, the Financial Times looks deeper into the government response and how it came together early on in the crisis. “Fighting the epidemic is fighting the enemy,” Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said back in January following a high-level meeting during the Tet holiday. 

The country has won praise for its response on par with Singapore and South Korea, but the Draconian aspect of it all should be remembered. A widespread public health campaign pumped out by state-controlled media has been very successful with high recognition of symptoms among the community, but ‘fake news’ laws have also been deployed with around 800 people now facing fines. There’s also a dibber-dobber set-up in neighbourhoods to identify individuals who have been abroad and are not quarantining. Isn’t it amazing how quickly the last few weeks have turned people ambivalent on beliefs they deeply hold? More than anything, the Singapore and Vietnam responses are challenging me. I hope someone much smarter than me can explain why this is and what I should be feeling and thinking!  

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It’s much blunter in Cambodia. According to Human Rights Watch, the government is using the crisis to crack down further on political dissidents and activists. Authorities have arrested 17 people since January for spreading fake news about the virus, including four former Cambodia National Rescue Party members. In a particularly sad case, a 14-year-old girl is facing charges after posting about fearing coronavirus following reports of cases near her school. As of Monday, Cambodia reports 86 cases.

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Myanmar has confirmed it’s first two cases, both Myanmar nationals who have recently returned home from abroad. Contact tracking is underway. Just 214 tests had been administered by Monday evening, so expect to see that number climb. The news has sparked panic-buying in parts of Yangon. 

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This leaves Laos the only country in Asean that doesn’t have any official cases. Laos being the media black hole that it is, I can’t find any information on how many, if any, tests have been administered. But, with the news that migrant workers based in Thailand have returned home en masse, we should expect to see increases in cases in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia were the majority of Thailand’s 4 million migrant workers hail from.  

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As of Tuesday afternoon, Thailand officially reports an increase of 106 new cases bringing the total to 827. Sadly, the death toll has risen by three, bringing the official toll to four deaths. A Health Ministry spokesman says the three deaths were of Thai national men who all had underlying health conditions. More cases are expected this week with movement across the country. Despite efforts to encourage people to stay put, with the shutdown of much of the service industry workers are heading home from the cities. 

The Nation is down this afternoon for some reason which has ruined a few of my links so let’s close out Thailand with a heart-warmer. Food vendor, Pornphitsanu Phonmathong, says the virus has deeply affected the country’s lower socio-economic classes. After a regular approached his Muang district stall and asked for a free meal, saying that his employer had let him go and he had lost his daily income, Pornphitsanu fed his customer. Then, he dug into his savings to stock-up on ingredients to offer free feeds to any and all who need it. He’s now keeping it afloat with donations from others in the community funding ingredients and says if the crisis deepens he’ll stop selling entirely and just hand out for free. What a man :’)